The historic national Republican wave, which saw the GOP gain at least 64 seats in the US House of Representatives, seemed to skip Massachusetts, which elected Democrats in all 10 congressional districts.

But the midterms nevertheless transformed the Bay State's congressional delegation. In one fell swoop, the group went from one of the nation's most powerful and influential delegations, to one of the most irrelevant.

The nine incumbents, and newcomer Bill Keating — who succeeds the retiring Bill Delahunt — will all be members of the minority party in the House when the 112th Congress meets in January. Rather than playing central roles in crafting legislation and directing committee hearings, they will be sitting on the sidelines as presumptive Speaker John Boehner leads his fellow Republicans in a new direction.

It's not much fun being in the minority — as most of them know, from personal experience. Only Niki Tsongas (first elected in 2007) and Keating were not in Washington during the Republican control that began with the "Gingrich Revolution" and lasted from 1995 to 2006.

"We now have a smaller seat at the table," says Congressman Michael Capuano, whose district includes portions of Boston. "Nobody can pretend it's good for the state — it isn't."

Being in the majority for the past four years has been way better — especially for Massachusetts congressmen whose length of service, committee assignments, or close relationships with Speaker Nancy Pelosi have paid dividends.

Those dividends have included the ability to direct federal resources and attention to their home districts; a central role in writing bills; considerable sway in determining legislative priorities; and power to pursue oversight of government and industry.

All of that will be dramatically reduced with Democrats thrown back into the minority.

That's prompted much speculative chatter about the future of the delegation. At least half of the state's 10 congressmen are rumored to be thinking of leaving Congress in 2012, either to run for Senate against Scott Brown, or to retire from elected office altogether. (See sidebar, "Ten Little Congressmen," opposite page.)

Not so fast, say others, who suggest that the Republican takeover of the House might actually reinvigorate the lawmakers.

Having proven themselves safe for re-election, even under the most difficult circumstances, Congressmen Barney Frank, Ed Markey, Jim McGovern, and the others are now free to take lead roles in setting the Democratic opposition to Republicans, and the agenda for 2012 and beyond. They could end up, in the long run, with more power and influence than ever.

"Yeah, it's gonna suck for them for two years," says veteran political consultant Scott Ferson of Liberty Group in Boston. "But unlike [1994], they're not looking at it like: 'Oh my God, for the rest of my career I'm stuck.' "

Assessing the damageFrank and Markey will lose their chairmanships, and Richard Neal will not get the one he was expected to receive next year. John Olver will no longer head the Appropriations subcommittee that decides transportation spending. John Tierney and Steve Lynch each chaired Oversight and Government Reform subcommittees; McGovern was second in command of the Rules Committee.

Not only do they all lose their long-sought gavels, they must watch Republicans eviscerate their agenda.

Chaos Theory In less than two weeks, when Massachusetts voters elect Martha Coakley to the US Senate — let's not pretend that Republican state senator Scott Brown has any chance of pulling off the monumental upset — they will trigger a massive domino effect that has the state's political class buzzing with anticipation.

Generation Green Republicans have a lot to say about the immorality of saddling the next generation with our national debt. But when it comes to leaving them a wrecked, depleted, and rapidly warming planet, they are taking the exact opposite line.

Ready to rumble Last summer, the upcoming race that got most Bay State politicos salivating was the run for governor.

Elephant in the Room Platoons of state Republicans, energized by Scott Brown's stunning victory over Democrat Martha Coakley last week, are setting their sights on November.

Might as well jump Last Thursday, Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island — the last of his legendary clan in Congress — announced that he will not run for re-election.

Three-Fall In a less politically charged world, the triumvirate of Democratic political leaders in Washington — President Barack Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid — might now be taking victory laps over one of the most productive two-year sessions in decades.

Ten Little Congressmen . . . Each of Massachusetts's 10 congressmen — soon to be nine, following next year's redistricting — are looking at the House shakeup from their own career perspectives.

Down again Here's a great idea for commemorating the 20th anniversary of Maine's last state-government shutdown in 1991: Let's do it again.

Republicans continue to wage war on women The Republican Party's unrelenting war on women is now being waged with such frenzied fury that sane people might well wonder if there is a GOP-wide obsession with punishing an entire gender.

MRS. WARREN GOES TO WASHINGTON | March 21, 2013 Elizabeth Warren was the only senator on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, aside from the chair and ranking minority, to show up at last Thursday's hearing on indexing the minimum wage to inflation.

MARCH MADNESS | March 12, 2013 It's no surprise that the coming weekend's Saint Patrick's Day celebrations have become politically charged, given the extraordinary convergence of electoral events visiting South Boston.

LABOR'S LOVE LOST | March 08, 2013 Steve Lynch is winning back much of the union support that left him in 2009.

AFTER MARKEY, GET SET, GO | February 20, 2013 It's a matter of political decorum: when an officeholder is running for higher office, you wait until the election has been won before publicly coveting the resulting vacancy.